A. The writer(s), the place, and the time: This book was written by the apostle Paul and Timothy the brother (1:1) to the saints in Colosse (1:2). It was written from a Roman prison around A.D. 64, at about the same time as the book of Philemon (4:9-10; Philem. 10-12).
B. The subject: Christ—the all-inclusive One, having the first place in all things; the mystery and embodiment of God, the Head and portion of the church, the inheritance, life, portion, and hope of the saints, and the reality of all positive things.
C. The background: [The vital point concerning the background of the book of Colossians is that culture had been brought into the church life. The population of Colosse was a mixture of Gentiles and Jews. The Gentiles and the Jews had different cultures. For the most part, the Gentiles were under the influence of Greek culture with its philosophy. At that time, however, Greek philosophy was no longer pure. Rather it was a mingling of various philosophies. Furthermore, the Gentile culture was at least somewhat blended with Jewish religious concepts.
This mixture of cultures flooded the church at Colosse. The church should be a house filled with Christ and constituted with Him. Instead, the church there had been invaded by culture. To a large extent, Christ as the unique element in the church life was being replaced by various aspects of this mixed culture. The constituent of the church should be Christ and Christ alone, for the church is the Body of Christ. Therefore, the content of the church should be nothing other than Christ Himself. Nevertheless, the good elements of the culture, especially philosophy and religion, had invaded the church and saturated it.]
D. The central thought: [Paul’s purpose in the book of Colossians is to show that in the church nothing should be allowed to be a substitute for Christ. The church life must be constituted uniquely of Christ. He should be our only constituent and our very constitution. This is the reason that in this short Epistle a number of elevated expressions are used to describe Christ. For example, He is called the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn from among the dead, and the body of all the shadows.]
E. The general sketch: In [Colossians Christ is revealed to the uttermost, much more than in Galatians. In Galatians Paul speaks of Christ being revealed in us, of Christ living in us, and of Christ being formed in us. But in Colossians he uses a number of special terms for Christ: the portion of the saints, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. In this short book, one aspect of Christ after another is unfolded. Therefore, Colossians reveals that Christ is profound and all-inclusive. The all-inclusive Christ transcends our understanding. Our need is to be infused, saturated, and permeated with Him until in our experience Christ is everything to us: our food, our drink, our feasts, our holy days, our Sabbath, our new moon, our everything. We must not allow anything to replace Christ or to be a substitute for Him. This is the central point of Colossians. Whereas Galatians reveals that Christ is versus religion and the law, Colossians reveals that Christ is versus everything because He Himself is the reality of every positive thing.]
F. The sections: 1) introduction (1:1-8), 2) Christ—the pre-eminent and all-inclusive One, the centrality and universality of God (1:9—3:11), 3) the living of the saints in union with Christ (3:12—4:6), and 4) conclusion (4:7-18).
A. The writer(s), the place, and the time: This book was written by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians (1:1) around A.D. 54 while Paul was staying in Corinth during his second journey of ministry (1:1; 3:6; Acts 18:1, 5).
B. The subject: a holy life for the church life—serving the living God, having a sanctified human living, and awaiting the coming of the Lord.
C. The background: [The two Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians may be considered the earliest of Paul’s writings. Thessalonica was a city of the Roman Empire in the province of Macedonia, north of the province of Achaia. After the Macedonian call, which Paul received on his second journey of ministry, he and his co-worker Silvanus visited first Philippi and then Thessalonica (Acts 16:9-12; 17:1-4). The apostle stayed and worked there for only a short time, probably less than one month (Acts 17:2).]
[The books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians were not written to experienced Christians. They were written to young believers, to those who had been saved for less than a year. Most of them had been typical Gentiles. Therefore, in writing to them, Paul surely viewed them as young believers. These Epistles are very precious, for they render us particular help concerning the young Christian life and church life.]
D. The central thought: a holy life for the church life. [This holy life for the church life is constructed of faith, love, and hope. The way to carry out such a life is to be sanctified wholly. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul says, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” If we would be sanctified wholly, we need to have our heart established blameless in holiness, and we need to preserve our vessel, our body, in sanctification and honor. Furthermore, all the parts of our being—our spirit, our soul, and our body—need to be preserved complete. This is to sanctify our entire being to have a holy life for the proper church life.] [In 2 Thessalonians Paul repeats much of what he has said in 1 Thessalonians. Like a father with a loving heart toward his children, Paul is repetitious. This is characteristic of parents, especially as they grow older. Again and again, they may say the same thing to their children. Therefore, 2 Thessalonians is a repetition and a further development of 1 Thessalonians. It is a repetition with warnings and corrections. In 2 Thessalonians 2 Paul warns the believers not to be misled. He also corrects them in order to bring them back to the right track. Nevertheless, the main subject—the holy life for the church life—is the same in both books. Furthermore, in both 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians we see the basic structure of the Christian life, a structure that includes faith, love, and hope.]
E. The general sketch: [In the two Epistles to the young church in Thessalonica, the genuine Christian life for the proper church life is revealed in a simple and brief way. It is a life of three dimensions in the light of the Lord’s coming back: faith as the beginning, the foundation; love as the process, the structure; and hope as the consummation, the topstone. Faith is toward God (1:8); love is toward the saints (3:12; 4:9-10); and hope is in the Lord’s coming (2:19). The first Epistle is for encouragement and comfort; the second is for correction and balance. The believers should live, walk, and work by faith and love in the hope of the Lord’s coming back; but we should not have the wrong concept that the Lord will come immediately, so that we need not do anything for the long run. These two Epistles may be considered the consummation of the Christian life for the church life. They conclude this section of the apostle Paul’s writings, which begins with the book of Romans.]
F. The sections: 1) introduction (1:1), 2) the content—a holy life for the church life (1:2—5:24), and 3) conclusion (5:25-28).